Kia ora koutou katoa ๐
Some of you may remember me. I took a hiatus due to poor health and technical difficulties, but I'm back and ready to talk about all things community! I still need to catch up on reading everything posted for the last year, so please forgive me (and perhaps link me!) if any of this has already been covered ๐
Over the last year and a bit, I've been an elected member of my local community council, office holder of our Toy library, started working in emergency response communications, and helped start a community workshop. It's been a process learning how to navigate egos and still make progress.
I've found I absolutely love consensus decision-making and co-chair structures! Here in Aotearoa, there has been a change to the incorporated societies act. we are all required to rewrite our constitutions, which means we can hardwire more community-minded processes into our organisations. This will be especially handy for limiting the amount of control hostile council members can wield and hopefully lead to a more positive and productive future.
I literally just got a working phone yesterday, but I'm hoping to put together some resource lists for grants and community group structures. I think it would also be great to discuss what an ideal community looks like and what sort of community infrastructure can we implement on an individual level to move us closer to that vision. Think community gardens, free pantries, repair cafes, alternative recycling, co-working space, time banks, community workshops and tool libraries etc etc etc. We could come up with how-to guides to help other get similar things going in their communities making the process more accessible!
I also want to discuss software for community. We are switching our Toy library system in the next year, but the options for small non-profit community groups are limited. I think we've found one to handle general catalog with reserves and loans, but there doesn't seem to be anything out there at the moment to handle our future plans of starting a time bank.
Please TLDR about your lives over the last year. I want to hear about all you amazing people ๐ฅฐ
Hi friend,
Life over the past year has had its ups and downs for me but it's getting better. I moved into a house with my wife and our polycule that is too small for the 6 of us but we love it all the same. In the wake of the US Election, we're looking for more ways to connect with our community since we know the government will not advocate for us trans people (quite the opposite). We're starting with little steps, learning our neighbors names, donating our unwanted food and picking up trash on the block. I work remotely so I have to remind myself to go outside sometimes lol.
My disabled friend is facing eviction so I'm trying to help raise funds to help them avoid that. Please share and donate if you can
I'm so sorry to hear about your friends living situation ๐ they are trying to bring back no-cause evictions here so I worry for a lot of my friends living with disabilities in rental situations..
So glad to hear your family have found a nice place to live and you are working on building community ๐ฅฐ